Allison Dixon
Forgive me for the unnecessary Star Wars reference, but I couldn't help it. Yoda is the ultimate mentor, and mentorship is what this post is all about.
As a new teacher recently graduated from the B.Ed program and working as a TOC, I sometimes feel anchorless. There are 18 different secondary schools in the Vancouver school district, as well as 75 elementary schools, 16 elementary annexes, and 22 alternative education program sites. As a TOC, each new day brings with it the possibility of being called into a classroom in any one of those locations. I'm a secondary teacher, so I'm more often called into secondary schools, but still. Anchorless.
During teacher education programs, we get plenty of guidance and feedback from our professors, school and faculty advisors, and fellow student teachers. The years following the education program, however, do not have the same level of guidance. Sometimes it would be nice to have a mentor. (Where's my Yoda??)
For this reason, the Vancouver School Board has a teacher mentorship program, VSB Peer to Peer Support. Peer to Peer Support offers all sorts of professional learning services, including collaboration on planning and classroom management, observation and feedback, and Pro-D sessions. I went to a recent Pro-D session for new TOCs and found it to be quite helpful. It's nice to know that there are support systems in place for new teachers.
It's not just the VSB's Peer to Peer Support that offers mentorship services, either. The BCTF has resources on its website to help TOCs. A Teacher's Bag of Tricks, another great resource, is run by a Coquitlam teacher who describes herself as an advocate for new teachers and TOCs. And for technology-specific guidance, there is also the VSB Tech Mentors website.
Everybody needs a Yoda -- er, I mean mentor.
Forgive me for the unnecessary Star Wars reference, but I couldn't help it. Yoda is the ultimate mentor, and mentorship is what this post is all about.
As a new teacher recently graduated from the B.Ed program and working as a TOC, I sometimes feel anchorless. There are 18 different secondary schools in the Vancouver school district, as well as 75 elementary schools, 16 elementary annexes, and 22 alternative education program sites. As a TOC, each new day brings with it the possibility of being called into a classroom in any one of those locations. I'm a secondary teacher, so I'm more often called into secondary schools, but still. Anchorless.
During teacher education programs, we get plenty of guidance and feedback from our professors, school and faculty advisors, and fellow student teachers. The years following the education program, however, do not have the same level of guidance. Sometimes it would be nice to have a mentor. (Where's my Yoda??)
For this reason, the Vancouver School Board has a teacher mentorship program, VSB Peer to Peer Support. Peer to Peer Support offers all sorts of professional learning services, including collaboration on planning and classroom management, observation and feedback, and Pro-D sessions. I went to a recent Pro-D session for new TOCs and found it to be quite helpful. It's nice to know that there are support systems in place for new teachers.
It's not just the VSB's Peer to Peer Support that offers mentorship services, either. The BCTF has resources on its website to help TOCs. A Teacher's Bag of Tricks, another great resource, is run by a Coquitlam teacher who describes herself as an advocate for new teachers and TOCs. And for technology-specific guidance, there is also the VSB Tech Mentors website.
Everybody needs a Yoda -- er, I mean mentor.